The Read In Part 4
Saturday was a whirlwind. Once the firewall was breached the intel just started pouring out of Henry's front company. Annie charted all the players and Auggie and Barber tracked money and weapons all over the globe.
Using Hummingbird and other facial recognition tracking Auggie found footage of Henry in all sorts of places he shouldn't have been and could now identify the other parties thanks to the data they uncovered.
By 6:00 pm on Saturday the evidence was overwhelming.
"We have him, right guys? I'm not a law enforcement officer, but we've got him?" Barber asked as he munched on a sandwich.
"I think we do," Annie looked shocked.
"This is a gold mine Annie, and you found it," Auggie shook his head in awe.
"I wouldn't have been able to do anything with it without you guys though. Is it really going to be over?"
"We need to talk to Calder, but I think it might be…"
"Calder?" Barber piped in.
"He's been helping us," Auggie admitted.
"But he shot her," Barber pointed emphatically at Annie.
"It was part of the plan Barber, he was on our side at that point," Annie clarified.
"How many people were on your side?" Barber was suddenly annoyed again.
"Calder is the only other person at Langley who knows Eric, I promise you that, even Joan thinks I'm dead."
Barber just nodded which left Auggie frowning at the silence.
"Go ahead, call him," Barber stood and left the room.
"I'll talk to him," Annie said as Auggie took out his phone.
As Annie passed, Auggie reached out and took her hand.
"We're going to get you home, safely and with your career intact Walker, I won't settle for anything less," Auggie brought her hand to his lips.
***555***
"You OK?" Annie asked when she found Barber with his head in his hands at the small kitchen table.
She opened the fridge and grabbed 2 beers.
"Been kind of an up and down couple of days," he laughed and took the beer.
"It's a lot to take in and it means a lot to me that I was missed," Annie grinned.
"I can't believe you trusted Calder more than you trusted me, I had been helping Auggie off book for weeks," Barber said quietly peeling the label of the Portuguese beer.
"It was not a matter of trust, it was the only play I had, Calder was going to take me in and I had to turn him, had to make him see our objective."
"And you did?"
"Calder is an ass, but he isn't dirty, he wants to see Henry brought to justice," Annie shrugged and sipped her beer.
"And we have to trust him one more time," Auggie stated as he joined the pair in the kitchen.
"What did he say?"
"Based on what I could convey over the phone he thinks we should bring it all back, including you," Auggie said with a small smile.
"Really?"
"Really. We'll need to keep you under wraps until everything is finalized, but he thinks it will be a matter of days not weeks."
Annie didn't respond she just stood up and threw herself into Auggie's unsuspecting arms. He rebounded quickly, bringing his arms strongly around her as her lips latched on to his. One kiss led to another and after a couple of minutes Barber finally spoke up.
"Um, hey, guys," his voice squeaked.
Annie blushed furiously and separated herself from Auggie.
"Sorry," Auggie said but he didn't sound particularly contrite.
"So what now?" Barber asked.
"We back it all up, I am talking buy every flash drive in Lisbon and copy this data. I have a couple snail mail protocols in place, one Calder knows about. If our plane goes down tomorrow Henry will still spend the rest of his life in a federal prison," Auggie said emphatically.
"I'm on it," Barber stood.
"I'll get the extra flash drives and some more food and beer. We should have a party, say good-bye to the dark side," Annie grabbed her bag and left.
***555***
"So, since you are reading me in on all the details, I have a question," Barber said brazenly after a couple more beers.
"Shoot," Auggie said and winced at his choice of words.
"Nice," Annie poked him in the ribs.
"How long have you two been together?"
"We got together the night of Jai's declassification ceremony," Annie admitted.
"Hmmmm," Barber nodded.
"What?" Auggie asked with a smile.
"Some people thought it was long before that, others were shocked to hear you declare your love over the phone," Barber shrugged.
"And you? Where did you fall?" Annie asked.
"Well, as I said to Auggie here one day, I was really hoping it was true, that you were together, but I was in the van with you when we went after Fischer and I had never seen two people so in love and so miserable at the same time. You two were both a mess," Barber chuckled morosely.
"Don't hold back Barber, tell us how you really feel," Auggie said sternly.
"He's right Auggie, we both kind of hit rock bottom there. "
"I was also at the hospital after you were shot Annie, and Auggie couldn't have been more devastated. I really hoped you two weren't cursed. When you died I was afraid I was right. You guys have a chance now, to be happy, to be together, I hope you take advantage of it," Barber smiled sadly and excused himself to the bathroom.
Annie and Auggie sat in stunned silence for a second and then Auggie reached for her, pulling her out of her seat and into his lap.
"Marry me," he whispered against her ear.
She just nodded as if it was the simplest of requests. He didn't say another word.
The End